This Kentucky basketball team needs more than freshman flash to find ultimate success
Following the second game of Kentucky’s basketball trip to Canada for the GLOBL JAM this month, John Calipari listened along and nodded in agreement with the premise.
Though he’d been with the Wildcats for only a couple of weeks at that point, it was already clear that transfer forward Tre Mitchell would be capable of giving this UK team a little bit of everything. And though Antonio Reeves was already a known commodity within the program, the fifth-year college guard certainly has the look of a player oozing with confidence, one who should be able to get the Cats a basket when they need it most, more often than not.
Calipari confirmed all of the above in Toronto.
“They’re vets,” he agreed. “And, like I say, if you ask me: experience or talent? If you remember, I’ve always taken talent. But you’re always looking for experienced talent. The transfer portal may get you a little bit of that now. It’s hard for us, because our talent left to go pro, which is why (we do) what we do and we try to get these kids. But now you get a couple guys like that …”
A couple of guys like that, and this Kentucky team might have something.
The pure talent was always going to be there. All of college basketball already knew that. UK was bringing in yet another No. 1-ranked recruiting class, led by four McDonald’s All-Americans — D.J. Wagner, Justin Edwards, Aaron Bradshaw and Reed Sheppard — along with a fifth five-star in Rob Dillingham, that group likely to receive the most outside attention once the season gets going.
But it was only about a month ago that Kentucky’s roster was seemingly in shambles, despite all of that freshman flash.
Two weeks into June, and the Cats were sitting at only seven scholarship players. A couple of relatively under-the-radar high school commitments — Jordan Burks and Joey Hart — bolstered the numbers in the days that followed, but neither projected as an instant-impact addition.
The key to this Kentucky season came a little later. First, when Reeves decided to return to Lexington for a second season. Then, when the Wildcats got lucky, picking up Mitchell as a transfer from West Virginia following the messy departure of head coach Bob Huggins.
Those two developments were plenty hyped at the time, major additions for a Kentucky team in dire need of experience. By the time the Wildcats left Toronto — carrying home GLOBL JAM gold medals — it was just about impossible to overstate how much Reeves and Mitchell probably mean to the upcoming season.
Reeves was the event’s MVP, averaging 23.0 points in 28.5 minutes per game and shooting 56.3 percent from three-point range. Mitchell was arguably the Wildcats’ most important player, flourishing despite being forced out of position — he played the “5” in place of injured centers Ugonna Onyenso and Bradshaw — logging more minutes than any Cat (despite an ankle injury in game three), finishing tied for second on the team in scoring and three-pointers, ending up third in assists, and leading UK in both rebounds and blocked shots.
Kentucky will need their production this season. But their leadership — both vocally and by example — could be one of the defining variables for the Wildcats’ 2023-24 campaign.
Mitchell — a 6-foot-9 power forward — is the most recent addition to the program and also the Wildcats’ oldest player. He’d been with the team for less than two weeks when he spoke to local reporters for the first time, a few days ahead of the GLOBL JAM trip. The 22-year-old, playing for his fourth team in four seasons after stops at UMass, Texas and, most recently, West Virginia, had already developed an early bond with Calipari before the Cats left for Canada.
“It’s been great, honestly. It really has been,” Mitchell said. “He’s a great dude. And I admire the fact that he knows he has young dudes. It could be just because it’s July; it’s July, so he understands. But he has a level of patience with them that I admire, that I haven’t seen out of a lot of coaches. And just the patience he has and the care that he treats each individual player with, it’s respectable. And it’s like, ‘How could you not follow a guy like that?’ You know?”
Calipari knows his young stars will be in for plenty of growing pains along the way. He’s gone this route a time or two in the past. He’s also hoping his “vets” will be there to take some of that load off his freshmen. And off himself.
The early returns were positive.
Calipari mentioned after the very first game of the trip that he’s hoping this team will take control on the court. A good chunk of that responsibility will ultimately fall on guys like Wagner and Edwards — two projected NBA lottery picks — down the line, but, in the early going, they’ll need their fifth-year teammates to show them the way. According to Calipari, that’s exactly what happened in game one.
As he told it, Mitchell came into the UK huddle during the opener against Germany, spelled out exactly what the defense was doing and offered a way to get Reeves loose for an open three.
“I’m like, ‘Perfect,’” Calipari said.
Mitchell’s plan worked.
“That’s how you want to coach,” Calipari said. “You want them to feel that it’s their team.”
While neither of these two 22-year-olds — Reeves is a couple months younger than Mitchell — appears to be the most vocal on the court, both showed a steadying presence in Canada, and both have made it clear they’re eager to offer advice and guidance to their younger teammates.
Mitchell indirectly touted the lead-by-example nature of his playing style, starting with a passing ability that sometimes goes unnoticed (but was on full display during the Toronto trip).
“That’s one of my best skill sets, is my ability to pass,” he said. “So those dudes seeing me be unselfish when I get it on the post or when I get it out on the perimeter or wherever it may be, I think they feed off that, as well. And then it just kind of stampedes from there. Everybody is like, ‘OK, he’s willing to give it up. I’m willing to give it up.’ I’ll give up a good shot for a great shot. And I think that’s going to be something great for us in the long run.”
Reeves, a quiet newcomer among established returnees last season — following his transfer from Illinois State — said Calipari has called on him to play a different role this time around.
“I gotta hear you 24/7 when you’re out there,” Calipari told him.
That might go against Reeves’ natural approach, but he’s willing to give it a go. And he’s already acting as an outlet for younger players going through the college basketball grind for the first time. Referring to himself as “big bro” and the “old head” on this Kentucky team, Reeves seems to be relishing the role of veteran now that he’s back with the program. And he’s the first to acknowledge he was “pretty quiet” on and off the court last season.
“But this year, I definitely have to use my voice,” Reeves said. “Because we have a lot of younger guys that are out there. … The guys just look at me as an older brother. They ask me questions all the time.”
Reeves hasn’t gone into detail about what delayed his UK return, which didn’t come until three weeks after he pulled his name out of the NBA Draft. Hangups over name, image and likeness possibilities and his expected role on a squad with such an influx of backcourt talent have been the two topics most talked about this summer. Calipari seemingly referenced the latter after the Cats won gold in Canada.
“He was worried about the wrong stuff,” the UK coach said of Reeves. “When you have five freshmen that we had and you’re finding out they’re really good — ‘Well, what’s going to happen to me?’ What? You’re the vet. What do you mean what’s happening to you?
“But he did the right stuff. Proud of him, and he’s playing good.”
Mitchell, the new face in a new place for most of his college career, is that yet again this season. But this time, he’ll also be looked to for leadership. He’s said he feels like he can deliver.
For all of Calipari’s superstar freshmen at Kentucky — and there have been plenty — his most successful UK teams have also included guys like Patrick Patterson, DeAndre Liggins, Darius Miller, Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley-Stein, Derek Willis, Reid Travis and many others. All players who played different roles while here, but all players who overcame different kinds of adversity early in their careers to establish themselves as dependable veterans under Calipari as those college days came to a close.
If this Kentucky season is going to be a special one, Reeves and Mitchell will surely have a major say in it. The real games don’t begin for another three and a half months, but they’re off to a good start.
“Everyone’s new,” Mitchell said. “And everyone’s new to the system and trying to figure it out. So that gives us all something to relate on, and that kind of brings us closer. Like we’re all kind of figuring everything out together. And these dudes are hungry, man. They’re hungry, and they want to win. So, if that stays, and we keep competing against each other, pushing each other — the sky’s the limit for this team.”
This story was originally published July 26, 2023 at 6:30 AM.
